Redemption empowers us to serve God. However, in serving God, it is important to serve him in the area where we are called. Someone may say, well, Bro Ify, I am not called. And even if I am called, I do not know the area of my calling.
Let’s look at scriptures to discover the mind of God in this matter.
In Romans 8:29-30, it is written:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
There is therefore:
- A foreknowledge: This means knowledge of something before it comes into existence.
- A pre-destination: the action of God in foreordaining from eternity whatever comes to pass.
- A calling: profession, vocation, or trade; it also means a call or summons; it means a strong impulse or inclination.
- A justification: the act of God whereby mankind is made or accounted just or free from the penalty of sin
- A glorification: the state of being glorified. It is an honour to be glorified by God.
So, each one of us has a calling.
The question is: how are we called?
- God can call us by way of a physical encounter. When Paul the Apostle was on his way to Damascus, he encountered Jesus. That was the beginning of his call.
- We can discover the call of God in the Word of God. In other words, we can see what God is calling us to do via his word. I found out what my calling is as I studied the scriptures. I came across the following verse of scripture in Acts 6:4 – But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word. As I read this scripture, it suddenly dawned on me that this is what I have been doing all my Christian life. I have always felt at home sharing the word of God, and God has given me the ability and wisdom to break down his word so that even the uneducated can understand me.
Also, I am a man of prayer, by the grace of God. It is my passion. I can stand and pray without being tired. This particular aspect of my life is known only to those who are close to me. So, I am called unto the ministry of the word and prayer. You, too, can discover your calling in the same manner.
- You can discover your calling through your passion. You may be passionate about one thing or the other. You experience joy and fulfillment as you engage in that activity. That is your calling.
The important thing is to engage with God in the area of your calling. There is no need to move from one lane to the other or to copy another man or woman.
Paul the Apostle likens our Christian Walk to a race. In a race, you keep to your lane. If you leave your lane, you run the risk of disqualification.
Now, let’s look further into the scriptures to discover how the saints were called.
[1] Abraham
Abraham was called to serve God in Genesis 12:1-5. The Bible says:
‘Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.’
Abraham remained faithful to the calling upon his life until the end. And God blessed him abundantly. The Lord blessed him in all things.
In Genesis 24:1, the Bible says: ‘And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.’
[2] Moses
Moses was called to be a deliverer of the people of God from the hands of Pharaoh. The account of his calling is found in Exodus 3: 1-10. The Bible says:
‘Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.’
Initially, Moses was reluctant to accept this call, but God insisted. Moses obeyed and stayed faithful to his calling to the end. Was it not Moses that God used to write the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? He was blessed abundantly for being faithful to his calling.
In Deuteronomy 34:10, the Bible says:
‘And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,’
Moses also ended well. The Bible says concerning him:
‘And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.’ (Deuteronomy 34:7)
[3] David
David was called to serve God as the King of Israel. David was called not just to be King of Isreal, but to serve God as the King of Israel.
In 1 Samuel 13:14, the Bible says:
‘But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.’
David served God as Captain over God’s people. He was faithful in service, and at the end, he emerged as the greatest king that Israel has ever known. God used him as a reference point in kingly service. Therefore, be faithful to your calling.
[4] Jeremiah
Jeremiah was called to serve God as a prophet unto the nations.
In Jeremiah 1:4-7, the Bible says:
‘Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.’
Jeremiah was initially reluctant to obey the call of God, but in the end, he obeyed. His message was not popular with the people of Israel. He warned about the impending destruction of Jerusalem, but the people did not pay him any attention.
He was mocked, ridiculed, imprisoned, and thrown into a cistern to die. But he remained faithful. He did not abandon his call.
Jeremiah remained completely faithful to his prophetic calling, even when it brought him suffering, rejection, and personal anguish. He is a powerful example of commitment to God’s mission despite hardship.
[5] Peter
Peter was called into the ministry as a fisher of men. He was a fisherman who became a ‘fisher of men.’
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said unto him:
‘And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’
There is no doubt that Peter failed a few times, but he was always restored, and he remained faithful and committed to his calling.
The most notable moment of failure was when he denied Jesus three times after Jesus was arrested (Luke 22:54-62).
However, Peter was faithful to the call, and in the end, he became a veritable ‘fisher of men.’ On the day of Pentecost, he boldly preached the gospel.
In Acts 2:41, the Bible says:
‘Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.’
He was an undisputed leader and pillar of the early church.
[6] Paul
Paul was called to be an Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles. His call was dramatic. In Acts 9:1-6, the Bible says:
‘And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.’
Immediately after his call, he obeyed.
Paul the Apostle endured numerous afflictions throughout his ministry, both physical and emotional. He endured persecutions. He endured imprisonment in Philippi. He experienced beatings and whippings. He was stoned and left for dead in Lystra. His missionary journeys were fraught with danger. He suffered shipwreck. He suffered exhaustion. He was afflicted by a ‘messenger of satan’.
Despite all these afflictions, Paul remained faithful and steadfast, seeing his afflictions as part of his mission to spread the Gospel.
At the end, he said:
‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ (2 Timothy 4:7).
Today, he is a reference point for almost all teachings in the Bible.
Even the enemy acknowledged his greatness.
In Acts 19:14-17, the Bible says:
‘And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.’
Paul the Apostle lived to a good old age. How do we know?
The Book of Philemon 1:9 referred to him as follows:
‘Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.’
He was faithful to his call. He wrote 13 books of the Bible as the deep things of God were revealed to him.
[7] Timothy
Timothy was called into the ministry as an evangelist. In 2 Timothy 4:5, the Bible says concerning him:
‘But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.’
An evangelist is anyone who brings good news to another.
Timothy stayed faithful to his calling and, in the end, fulfilled his ministry.
[8] Jesus
The ministry of Jesus was declared in Luke 4:18-19. The Bible says:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’
The acceptable year of the Lord is not about a particular year. It refers to a dispensation of God’s grace that brings salvation, redemption, liberty, and deliverance.
Jesus fulfilled his ministry.
In Philippians 2:8 -9, the Bible declares:
‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.’
Jesus was faithful to the end.
- He accomplished his mission of salvation.
- Jesus came to save humanity from sin, and He completed this mission through His death and resurrection.
‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ (Luke 19:10)
- He fulfilled prophecies about the Messiah.
- Jesus fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies, proving that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God.
‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.’ (Matthew 5:17)
- He Preached the Kingdom of God.
- Jesus taught about God’s kingdom, calling people to repentance and faith.
‘From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matthew 4:17)
His teachings continue to impact millions today.
- He defeated sin and death through his resurrection.
- Jesus’s resurrection proved his victory over sin and death, securing eternal life for believers.
In Matthew 28:6, the Bible says: ‘He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.’ The grave had no power over him.
- He commissioned his disciples to continue his work.
- Jesus entrusted His disciples and us with the mission to spread the Gospel, ensuring His work continues.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
Because of these reasons, Jesus perfectly fulfilled His calling and left an eternal impact on the world. Therefore, discover your calling. Run with the vision that God has given you and be faithful.
May the Lord God give us an abundance of grace to fulfill our calling.
Abraham fulfilled his calling, you will not fail. Moses fulfilled his calling, you will not fail. Peter fulfilled his calling, you will not fail. Paul fulfilled his calling. Jesus was faithful to his mission. You will not fail.
Bro Ify Onabu
February 2022
